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“Kidding.” He grinned. “I’m kidding.”
Rumir started to say something else, then stopped. At that moment, I smelled Lucian. And judging by the way Rumir’s eyes darkened, I assumed he did as well.
Lucian stepped out of the forest and walked over to us without saying a word. He jerked his head to greet Brian, who did the same in response, but he ignored Rumir, who stood up and backed away.
I grew tense the longer the silence grew. Finally, Lucian’s eyes softened, and he held a bottle of water out to me. “You’ll need this,” he said with a small smile.
“Well, would you look at that? Having two mates has its perks after all,” Brian blurted out as he got up and brushed his hands down his jeans. He froze when he realized we were all staring at him. His statement hadn’t done anything to lessen the growing tension in the air. “Did I say something?”
I shook my head and turned to Lucian and Rumir. “Thank you both. I’ve just been so caught up with everything happening tonight, I forgot to eat.”
“You can’t do that,” Lucian said.
“I figured you’d do that,” Rumir said at the same time as Lucian. Then they both fell silent once more.
Both men looked sick at having spoken at the same time. I looked from one to the other, grimacing at how painful this was to watch.
I thought about my plan to encourage them to have an open and honest conversation with each other, hoping that if they understood each other, we could get past this shared enmity. But I was mistaken.
They couldn’t even look at each other, let alone sit down in a room together to talk.
I’d have to figure something else out. But that was a problem for another day. I wasn't going to tolerate any arguing or fighting, not tonight.
"Let’s not do this tonight, okay? You both brought me something to eat and drink, and I appreciate it. Having a mutual concern for me shouldn't be this unsettling for you.”
While Rumir looked away, Lucian gave me a tightlipped smile.
“Okay . . .” Brian drawled. "This was fun, but it’s getting awkward now, so I'm going to go."
Suddenly, I heard screaming come from somewhere below us, and I quickly got to my feet.
The plate on my lap tumbled to the ground and Lucian and Rumir drew closer, one on either side of me, both placing a hand on my shoulder.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to find the source of the screams when more broke out.
Piercing shrieks echoed through the night, and out of the trees, a horde of creatures that looked like kangaroos barreled out of the trees and descended on the festival. There were hundreds of them.
Suddenly, it was as if I was transported back to the war on Earth again, when the vampires had broken into the army base where I’d been staying. My blood ran cold and my hands became damp with sweat.
“W-What are those things? What’s going on?”
